​Propaganda police: FoI docs show UK cops spend £36mn a year on PR

Police forces spend tens of millions on public relations each year, with the Met alone employing over 100 ‘communications’ staff and an operating budget of over £10 million, documents released under Freedom of Information (FoI) show.

The investigation,
carried out by the Press Gazette, has revealed there are 775 PR
staff working across 38 national police forces.

“The senior officers hate what appears in papers as they are
in the unusual position of having no control. They also hate the
public knowing what is going on because it may reveal the police
haven’t done or aren’t doing their job properly."

“Further, they dislike the argument that they have to answer
through the journalists to their ultimate paymasters – the
public. How are the public supposed to find out what is happening
crime wise in their local area without the media?”

The FoI covered the period from 2009/10 and 2014/15, and showed
that budgets had actually grown despite simultaneous fiscal
austerity.

On seeing the figures, senior political figures expressed
disappointment that the PR budget had swollen.

Green Party London Assembly Member Jenny Jones told Press
Gazette: “I'm sympathetic to the idea that the Met needs a
press budget to report good news stories, as well as try to rebut
the bad, but at a time of savage cuts it’s disappointing to see
growth.”